November 07, 2010

Autumn Harvest Gelatin Shots

After we wrote about Fakesgiving and how our friend Scott showed up with a plate of Autumn Harvest gelatin shots, many of you wrote to ask for the recipe.

So as a special bonus post, here's how Scott made them!

Scott's inspiration for the flavors was "an old-school/drunken ladies at a Junior League meeting holiday punch recipe from a 1983 edition of Gourmet magazine." Here's that recipe, for Cranberry Punch.

As Scott points out, "With a few packets of unflavored Knox gelatin, ANYTHING can be made into a Jello shot -- mojitos, margaritas, red wine, etc. I think of it as a way of progressing into adulthood while retaining the essence of my youth...."

4 cups cranberry juice, heated to boiling (Scott used Adam and Eve brand from Whole Foods, which is not as sweet as most cranberry juice, causes him to have dust more sugar on the finished product to give them more sweetness).

2 cups vodka

2 cup fresh orange juice, strained (or just pulp free OJ)

1/4 cup cherry liqueur

Ground allspice

Freshly grated nutmeg

Sugar

Garnish: thin strips of lemon peel

Combine the hot cranberry juice and gelatin in a large bowl and mix until gelatin completely dissolves. Mix in the vodka, orange juice, and liqueur. Pour into shallow pans to about 1 inch depth. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Once firm, cut into squares, or, if you have autumn shaped cookie cutters, cut them into the shapes of leaves, turkeys, rakes, hayrides and leaf allergies.

Place the shapes on a platter and dust with allspice, nutmeg and sugar. Garnish with thin strips of lemon peel.